City of the Beasts, by Isabel Allende. Fifteen-year-old Alexander joins his grandmother on a mission to the Amazon to hunt for an ancient beast. He becomes involved in a struggle for survival with the Indians.

Home is Everything: the Latino Baseball Story, by Marcos Bretón. Great photos and parallel Spanish and English text tell the story of Latin American baseball players in the Major Leagues, including Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, and Jose Santana.

Colibri, by Ann Cameron. A twelve-year-old Mayan girl in Guatemala is kidnapped, forced to beg, and live a rough life, and she must find a way to break free and create a life for herself. For another account of a Mayan girl in present-day Guatemala, try Ben Mikaelsen’s Tree Girl, based on a true story.

The Tequila Worm, by Viola Canales. Sofia grows up in a close-knit Mexican-American community in the barrio in McAllen, Texas, but is forced to question her ties to that world as a scholarship student at a private boarding school in Austin.

Cubanita, by Gabby Triana. 17-year-old Isabel, eager to leave Miami to attend the University of Michigan and escape her overprotective Cuban mother, learns some truths about her family’s past and makes important decisions about the type of person she wants to be.